Nicholas Investment Partners LP Sells 238 Shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP lowered its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) by 23.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 797 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 238 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Ulta Beauty were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Ulta Beauty during the first quarter valued at about $425,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ulta Beauty by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,886,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,344,096,000 after buying an additional 40,190 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,305,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Ulta Beauty by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,117 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Ulta Beauty by 59.1% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 70 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ULTA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Ulta Beauty in a report on Tuesday, November 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $460.00 price target on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Ulta Beauty in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Ulta Beauty from $575.00 to $540.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Ulta Beauty from $570.00 to $571.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ulta Beauty from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ulta Beauty presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $530.35.

Ulta Beauty Price Performance

ULTA stock traded down $1.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $413.92. 138,744 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 763,303. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $393.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $434.83. Ulta Beauty, Inc. has a 1-year low of $368.02 and a 1-year high of $556.60. The firm has a market cap of $20.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.36.

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 24th. The specialty retailer reported $6.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.85 by $0.17. Ulta Beauty had a return on equity of 63.51% and a net margin of 11.77%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.70 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ulta Beauty, Inc. will post 25.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Ulta Beauty Company Profile

Ulta Beauty, Inc operate specialty retail stores selling cosmetics, fragrance, haircare and skincare products, and related accessories and services in the United States. It offers broad assortment of branded and private label beauty products including cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, professional hair products, and salon styling tools; and salon services, including hair, skin, makeup, and brow services, as well as nail services.